2 arrested in connection with stolen Eden Prairie motorcycle

A St. Paul man and woman were arrested by Eden Prairie Police Department officers on Friday, May 12, in connection with a stolen motorcycle.

An Eden Prairie woman reported that her 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was stolen between 4:30 p.m. Monday May 8 and 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, from an underground parking garage at Parkway Apartments, 13945 Anderson Lakes Parkway.

The woman was in possession of the only key for the motorcycle. When she discovered the Harley-Davidson was missing, she found a motorcycle helmet that didn’t belong to her sitting on another motorcycle that she owned that was parked next to the Harley-Davidson before it was stolen, according to the police report.

Eden Prairie Law Enforcement Analyst Ryan Kapaun said shortly after 2 a.m. Friday, May 12, an Eden Prairie officer on patrol in the area of City West Parkway and Shady Oak Road noticed a suspicious motorcycle and Cadillac parked in a business parking lot. The Cadillac and motorcycle left as the officer passed the area. The officer followed the two vehicles until they pulled into Parkway Apartments, and later returned to the parking lot where the Cadillac and motorcycle had been spotted.

The officer found another unoccupied motorcycle in the business parking lot. A check revealed the plates were stolen from a motorcycle in Hopkins and the vehicle identification number identified the motorcycle as the Harley-Davidson that was stolen from Parkway Apartments a few days prior. The Harley-Davidson’s owner said the handle bars had been swapped out with another motorcycle, Kapaun said.

Kapaun said officers were alerted to look for the suspicious motorcycle and Cadillac. Another officer later found the Cadillac in the area of City West Parkway and Optum Circle on May 12. A St. Paul man was driving and a St. Paul woman was the passenger. Police searched the Cadillac and found a black handle bar for a motorcycle, a gray jacket containing motorcycle gloves, riding glasses and what appeared to be entry keys for an apartment.

The man was arrested on a warrant out of Hennepin County and probable cause for motor vehicle theft. The woman was arrested on a warrant out of Dakota County and probably cause for motor vehicle theft and aiding an offender.

Police were dispatched at 8 a.m. May 12 to Parkway Apartments for a report of a motorcycle being parked too close to a vehicle. Officers located a black 2002 Harley-Davidson that had been reported stolen from an underground parking garage in Minneapolis, and that Harley-Davidson had plates stolen from a different motorcycle in Minneapolis. Police are investigating whether the man and woman who were arrested are connected with those cases.